Steam-engine governor.



No. 709,795.- Patented Sept. 23, I902. R. J. PATTERSON.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR.

{Application filed Apr. 13, 1901.) (No Model) 2 Sheets-Sheet No.709,795; Patented Sept. 2-3, I902.

R. J. PATTERSON.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR.

(Application filed .Apr. 13, 1901.)

(N0 HUGH?) 2 ShBBN-Shflfl 2,

:23 9 r r w I H 48 I it 6'0 Q I 419. 5a 42 !f H a! x W A) MN I 12 h T II M J 1 .z2

45 l I "h; N:

k w 1 I harm 407': MFz/IZZZZZr-Svw,

m: Noam: PETERS cc Puorouma. WASHINGTON. 0.1:

ilirtrrnn STATES Fanatic tries.

RALPH J. PATTERSON, OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAiVl ENGiNE GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N0. 709,79 5, datedSeptember 23, 1902.

Application filed April 13, 1901. Serial No. 55,603- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, RALPH J. PATTERSON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Woburn, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Steam-Engine Governors, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to governors for steam-engines; and it has for itsparticular object to provide an inertia attachment of such a characterthat it can be applied to any ordinary form of centrifugal governorWithout altering in any way the construction of the governor, theinertia device when applied making the governor perfectly isochronous.The attachment which I prefer to use coniprises a head which may bemounted for retation upon the usual spindle of the governor, preferablyat the upper-end of the spindle above the cross-head to which thecentrifugal arms are attached. The said head has extending in oppositedirections arms to the ends of which are attached inertia-weights, andthe centrifugal arms of the governor have detachably secured thereto attheir upper ends vertically-extending arms which are preferably flexiblyconnected to the arms of the inertia device. As the governor rotates,the connections between the governorarms and the inertia-arms cause theinertia device to rotate synchronously with the governor; but if at anytime the speed of the engine decreases the inertia device, by reason ofits inertia, seeks to move ahead of the centrifugal system, and suchforward movement of the inertia device relative to the centrifugalsystem operates to assist in thro wing the centrifugal arms down, andthereby lengthens the cut-off of the engine. \Vhen, on the other hand,the speed of the engine suddenly increases, the inertia device, byreason of its inertia, falls behind the centrifugal system, and suchlagging movement of the inertia device tends to throw the centrifugalarms outward to thereby shorten the cut-off.

In connection with my inertia attachment I preferably employ a dash-potof peculiar shape and which is so constructed that it may be adjusted tomove freely in one direction and be retarded in its movement in theopposite direction. This form of dash-potis especially useful inconnection with Corliss engine-governors which are used on engines thatare directly coupled to alternators which are designed to work inparallel.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a centrifugal governor withmy improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig.3 shows a modification. Figs. 4 and 5 show one form of flexibleconnection between the arms of the inertia device and the centrifugalarms of the governor. Figs. (5 and 7 show modifications of the flexibleconnection. Fig. 8 is a detail hereinafter to be described. Fig. 9 is anenlarged sectional View of my improved dash-pot. Fig. 10 is a section onthe line 12 12, Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a detail hereinafter to bedescribed.

Referring to Fig. 1, the governor proper, including the standard 3, thespindle 4, the governor-arms 5, with the centrifugal weights 6 attachedthereto, the weight or sleeve 7, to which. the governor-arms 5 areconnected by the links 8, the three-arm lever 9, to which the reaclrrods10 are connected, is and may be of any usual construction, my inventionrelating to an inertia attachment which is adapted to be applied to acentrifugal governor of the ordinary type and to a dash-potof peculiarconstruction, as will be presently described.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the upper end of the governor-spindle 4, which projectsbeyond the cross-head 12, to which the governor or centrifugal arms 5are pivoted, has mounted thereon for rotation a head 13, havingextending therefrom in opposite directions the inertia-arms 14, saidarms carrying at their ends the inertia-weights 15. One convenient wayof thus mounting the head 13 upon the upper end of the spindle 4 isillustrated in Fig. 8, wherein the upper end of the spindle 4 hasattached thereto the pivot-bearing l7,having the conical bearing-surfacel8, and the head 13 is a hub-like member havinga central aperture 19therein through which the neck 20 of the pivotal bearing 17 projects,the said head 13 being supported for turning movement upon the conicalbearing-surface 18. The lower end of the said hub has preferably securedsired.

. understood by those skilled in the art.

therein the cup-bearing 21, in which may be mounted antifriction-balls22, the said ball bearing serving to center the hook-like head, as willbe obvious. I desire it understood, however, that any other form ofpivotal connection between the head 13 and the upper end of the spindle4 may be employed if de- The forked end of the governor-arms 5 haveattached thereto in any suitable way, as by bolts or screws, thevertically-extending arm 25, the said arm being thus rigidly connectedto the governor-arm 5, so as to turn, there-- with about the pivot ofthe said governorarm. Each inertia-arm 14 is connected to one of saidvertieally-extending arms by means of a flexible connection, the saidconnection in Figs. 1 and 2 being in the nature of a link 26, which ispivotally connected at its ends to the inertia-arms and thevertically-extending arms, respectively. Preferably I make each end ofthe link with the spherical portion 27 and provide each inertiaarm 14with a correspondingly-shaped seat 28 to receive the spherical end ofthe link, and. the upper end of the vertically-extend ing arms 25 willbe provided with a suitable socket 29 to receive the end of the link.

Preferably I will so position the sockets 28 in the inertia-arms 14 thatthe distance between the same and the axis of the spindle 4 will be thesame as the distance between the pivotal point of the governor-arms 5and the point of connection between the links 26and thevertically-extending arms 25.

The operation of the inertia device constructed as above described willbe readily Assuming that the engine is running at a certain speed, itwill be seen that both the inertia and the centrifugal systems of thegovernor are running synchronously. If at any time the speed of theengine tends to increase, the speed of the centrifugal system will tendto increase in the same ratio. The inertia of the inertia device,however, prevents the said inertia device from increasing its speed tocorrespond with the increased speed of the centrifugal system, and thesaid inertia device therefore lags behind the centrifugal system,assuming the position relative to the centrifugal arms 5 shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2, it being understood that the arrow in said figureindicates the direction of rotation of the governor. This lagging of theinertiaarms 14 behind the centrifugal system operates through the links26 to assist in raising the centrifugal weights 6, thereby operatingattachment, therefore, when applied to a centrifugal governor serves toresist any tendency to increase or decrease the speed, and thus rendersthe governor isochronous in its action. Furthermore, the construction ofmy inertia device is such that it may be applied to any centrifugalgovernor now in use, and does not, therefore, require aspeciallyconstructed governor. To apply the attachment to the governor,it is only necessary to secure the head 13 upon the upper end of thespindle and bolt or secure the detachable arms 25 to the ends of thegovernor-arm 5.

Referring to Fig. 3, a slightlymodified form of my invention is shownwherein the head 13 is mounted upon the spindle 4 of the governorimmediately beneath the cross-head 12 instead of above the same, as inFig. 1, the said head being supported upon a collar 30, fast on the saidspindle. In this embodiment of my invention the vertically-extendingarms 25' extend downwardly from the cross-head l2 and are connected tothe inertia-arms by links 26, similar in construction to links 26 inFig. 2. The action of the governor is, however, the same as in the othermodification.

Instead of employing the link connection between the inertia-arms 14 andthe vertically-extending arms 25, I may employ a connection having auniversal joint, as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the inertia-arms 14 and thevertically-extending arms 25 have each connected thereto the stems 31,which are connected together by a universal joint 32 of any ordinaryconstruction. Another form of flexible connection is illustrated in Fig.7, wherein the stems 31 are connected together by a coiled spring 33instead of the universal joint 32. A flexible connection between thearms 25 and the inertiaarms 14 is necessary, because during the movementof the governorarms5 the upper ends of the arms 25 move in the arc of acircle, while the inertia-arms move in a horizontal plane.

Where the engines are directly coupled to alternator-s which are to beoperated in parallel, I preferably use in connection with my inertiaattachment above described a special form of dash-pot,which.is soconstructed that it may be adjusted to move either uniformly in bothdirections or "freely in one direction and with a retarded movement inthe opposite direction. A dash-pot having this construction isillustrated in detail in Figs. 12 and 13, wherein 40 is the usualcylinder containing a suitable resistance medium, such as oil, saidcylinder being mounted in any suitable way on the standard 3 of thegovernor, as usual in this class of devices. closed in the cylinder 40is apiston 41, having its stem 50 projecting through the head 42 of thecylinder and connected-in any usual way to one end of the three-armlever 9. The piston 41 is provided with two ports or series of ports 4344, respectively, the said ports being controlled by valves 45 and 46,which open in opposite directions, one valve opening to allow the pistonto descend and the other valve opening to allow the piston to rise. Thevalve 45, which is the valve to openas the piston 41 is descending, ismounted on the top of the piston 41, as shown in Fig. 12, and its stem47 projects up through the piston-head 42 and through a suitableaperture in a cross-piece 48, which is rigidly held between theadjusting-nuts on the stem 50 of the piston. A suitable stop-collar49 isadjustably mounted on the valve-stem 47 below the cross'piece 48, and acoil-spring 51, encircling the valve-stem, is confined between thecross-piece 48 and the collar 49, said spring serving to yieldingly holdthe valve 45 to its seat. The valve 46, which is supported underneaththe piston 41, has its stem 52 extended up through the cylinder-head 42and through the opposite piece of the crosspiece 48, as in Fig. 12, anadjustable stopcollar 53 being mounted upon the said valvestem above thecross-piece 48 and aspring 54 being confined between the saidstop-collar and said cross-piece, said spring also serving to yieldinglyhold the valve 46 to its seat. By adjusting the stop-collars 49 and sothat the tension of the springs 51 and 54 is equal it will be readilyseen that the piston of the dash-pot may move in either direction withequal freedom. The valves 45 and 46 allow the resistance medium to passfrom one side of the stem to the other. WVhen, however, it is desired toadjust the dash-pot so that it will move freely in one direction butwill be retarded in the other direction, one of the stop-collars 53 isadjusted so as to compress the spring between the same and thecross-piece 48, so that the tension on one spring will be greater thanthat on the other. WVhen so adjusted, it will be obvious that the valvewhich is held to its seat by the compressed spring will not open asfreely as the other valve, and consequently the piston will be retardedin its movementin one direction. The same result could be secured byreplacing one of the springs 51 54 by a light spring and the other by aheavy spring.

\Vhen my governor, including the novel dash-pot, is used on engines thatare coupled directly to alternators which are to be operated inparallel, the dash-pot will preferably be so adjusted that the pistonmay move freely upward, but will be retarded in its movement downward,whereby the governor may move freely in a direction to shorten thecut-off, but will be retarded in its movement in the direction tolengthen the cut-off. hen it is desired to connect in parallel directcoupled alternators, the engine controlling the alternator which is tobe thrown in parallel with the active alternator and which ishereinafter termed the finactive alternator is started up until it isrunning nearly synchronously with the engine running the activealternator, and when the engines are running nearly synchronously theswitch is thrown to couple the alternators. It is very difficult,however, to so govern the speed of the engine of the inactive alternatorfrom the throttle that the said alternator will .be

running exactly synchronously with the active alternator when the switchis thrown, so that where ordinar governors are used on the engines theengine running the inactive alternator will either forge ahead or lagbehind the other engine before the alternators get into step, thusproducing cross-currents or surging, as it is termed, between thealternators. inertia device are used, any tendency of one engine toforge ahead of the other and beyond its normal speed is counteracted bythe inertia device of the governor and by the free movement of thedash-pot upward, the inertia device and the daslrpot causing thecentrifugal weight 6 to immediately fly outward and shorten the cut-off.On the other hand, if when the switch is thrown to couple thealternators the engine running the active alternator tends to lag thedash-pot prevents the inertia device from acting immediately and causesthe engine to take steam very gradually, so that there is no suddenforging ahead of said engine, and consequently no danger ofcross-currents or surging between the alternators.

Where my governor is to be used on an ordinary engine, the springscontrolling the valves in the dash-pot will be of equaltension, so thatthe dash-pot can move with the same freedom in each direction.

I have found by experiment that an iner- -tia device constructed as minegives sufficient steadiness to the governor, so that a dash-pot is notabsolutely essential, and I may therefore under some circumstancesentirely omit the daslrpot and rely entirely on the inertia device forsteadying the action of the governor.

So far as I am aware, I am the first to invent an inertia attachmentwhich may be applied to the existing type of governors without in anyway altering the construction of the governor, and in my claims I desireto cover this feature of my invention.

Various changes may be made in the construction of the device withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I desire tohave it understood that I contemplate making such changes as come withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an enginegovernor, a governor-spindle, centrifugal arms pivotedthereto, vertically-disposed arms rigidly but detachably connected tothe said centrifugal arms at their pivotal pointof connection with thegovernorspindle, an inertia-weight loosely carried by saidgovernor-spindle, and flexible connections between the saidverticallydisposed arms and the inertia-weight.

2. In a centrifugal governor, a governorspindle, centrifugal leversconnected thereto, vertical arms detachably secured to the saidcentrifugal levers at their pivotal points, a

Where my improved dash-pot and head mounted for rotation on saidgovernorspindle and having oppositely-disposed arms extending therefrom,inertia-weights on said arms, and flexible connections between saidvertically-disposed arms and the arms supporting the inertia-weights.

,3. In a centrifugal governor, a governorspindle, centrifugal leversconnected thereto,

, vertical arms detachably secured to the said centrifugal levers attheir pivotal points, a head mounted for rotation on saidgovernorspindle and having oppositely-disposed arms extending therefrom,inertia-weights on said arms, links pivotally connected to saidvertically-disposed arms, and to the arms supporting theinertia-weights.

4. In a centrifugal governor, a governorspindle, centrifugal leversconnected thereto, vertical arms detachably secured to the saidcentrifugal levers at their pivotal points, a head mounted for rotationon said governorspindle and having oppositely-disposed arms extendingtherefrom, inertia-weights on said arms, links pivotally connected tosaid vertically-disposed arms and to the arms supporting theinertia-weights, the distance between the axis of the governor-spindleand the point of connection between the said links and the armssupporting the inertia-weights being equal to the distance between theaxis about which the centrifugal levers turn and the point of pivotalconnection between the said links and the vertically-disposed arms.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a

centrifugal governor, combined with a dashpot connected to thereach-rods of the engine,

said dash-pot comprising a cylinder containing a resistance medium, apiston in said cylinder, and adjustable mechanism to independentlyregulate the speed of the piston in each direction, whereby the saidpiston may be made to move more freely in one direction than in theother.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a centrifugal governor, aninertia device carried thereby, combined with a dash-pot connected tothe reach-rods of the engine, said dash-pot comprising a cylindercontaining a resistance medium, a piston in said cylinder, andadjustable mechanism to independently regulate the speed of the pistonin each direction, whereby the said piston may be made to move morefreely in one direction than in the other. a

7. A dash-pot for engine-governors, comprising a cylinder containing aresistance medium, a piston working in said cylinder, said piston havingtwo ports or openings therethrough, and spring-pressed valvescontrolling said ports and opening in opposite directions, the stems ofsaid valves extending through the head of the cylinder.

8. A dash-pot for engine-governors, comprising acylinder containing aresistance medium, a piston working in said cylinder, said piston havingtwo ports or openings therethrough, springpressed valves controllingsaid ports and openingin opposite directions, and means operable fromthe outside of the cylinder to vary the tension on the two springsindependently, whereby the piston may be made to move more freely in onedirection than in the other.

9. A dash-pot for engine-governors, comprising a cylinder containing aresistance medium, a piston in said cylinder having two ports therein,spring-controlled valves controlling said ports, said valves opening inopposite directions and having their stems projecting through the headof the cylinder, and means for adjusting the tension of the springs,whereby the valves may be so regulated that the piston will move freelyin one direction but will be retarded in its movement in the oppositedirection.

10. A dash-pot for engine-governors, comprising a cylinder containingaresistance medium, a piston in said cylinder having two ports therein,valves controlling said ports and opening in opposite directions,eachValve being carried byastem which projectsthrough the head of thecylinder, a cross-piece fast on the piston-rod, and means of yieldinglyconnecting said valve-stems to said cross-piece.

11. In an engine-governor, a governor-spindle, weighted centrifugallevers pivoted there to, vertically-disposed arms detachably secured tosaid centrifugal levers at their pivotal point, an inertia-weightloosely carried by said governor-spindle, and flexible connectionsbetween the said arms and the inertia-weight, combined with a dash-potconnected to the governor, said dash-pot comprising a cylindercontaininga resistance medium, a piston working therein, said pistonhaving two ports, springcontrolled valves controlling said ports, andopening in opposite directions, and means for adjusting the tension ofthe springs.

' 12. In an engine-governor, a governor-spindle,weighted centrifugallevers pivoted thereto, vertically-disposed arms rigidly but detachablysecured to said centrifugal levers, said vertical arms extendingupwardly beyond the pivotal points of the said centrifugal levers, aninertia-weight loosely carried by said governor-spindle, and flexibleconnections between said vertically-disposed arms and theinertia-weight.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

RALPH J. PATTERSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, LoUIs 0. SMITH.

